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Identity #3: Shoes and Other Excuses

Shoes… why you so complicated?

I had to go shoe shopping rather urgently, as I was informed that doctor-prescribed-orthopedics-sneakers weren’t going to cut it for the workplace, despite my relative lack of funds and overflowing embarrassment. So this weekend, I perused the (limited) shops in the region, peddled my bike up and down the roads – student drivers be damned- and visited almost every clothing/shoe store within a 15 (5?) mile radius.

I went to Walmart first (yeah, I’m not ashamed!) initially to get a receipt book, then I sort of accidentally wandered through shoes which reminded me that I needed to get work shoes. So I moseyed over to the women’s section and stared at the round-toed, bow-tied, plastic gloss flats.

I wasn’t thrilled for two reasons. One, flats are notoriously HELL on my flat feet. Two, I didn’t like them At All. They were just…so…girly.

*Shudder

After poking at a couple of the black ones, I shook my head (rather violently) and headed toward the food section. Five steps and counting, I spotted a pair of interesting shoes in the corner of my eye, hanging from a display at the end of the row. I picked them up, they had memory foam inserts that felt like clouds when I touched them. The price wasn’t bad at all, I slipped my feet in… annnnnddd I didn’t want to stop wearing them.

The only problem was they were WAY too big.

I looked at the size: 9 men.

Ah-huh.

What size are my feet in men’s? Apparently not 8.5, nor 8. I expanded the search, I’d settle for a 7, or 7.5, something that wouldn’t flop off my feet when I walked, because I wasn’t going to leave without these impossibly soft shoes.

Why did men get all the nice shoes anyway? So much foot room (unlike tight/cramped women shoes, there was plenty of toe and foot space) -and memory foam? Are ya serious!?

20 minutes, 2 store clerks, and 3 shoe racks later, I managed to find the shoes in 7.5. I paraded about, stopped and looked down. I liked these shoes. I felt… powerful. I puzzled the why of the emotion…

But didn’t care cuz the shoes were mine! *lighting strikes in the background

I had acquired one pair of memory foam insole, square-toed, black leather man-shoes that looked great with long dress pants. (They don’t go well with calf-high summer pants though, found that out the hard way on Monday…)

That turned out to be my only find of the day, aside from sneakers I bought (women’s…unfortunately the only comfortable ones, but have horrendous pink trim I’m going to black out with permanent marker…).

Then I hit DSW… which was a wash. Then the Shoe Dept. Then several more shoe stores. I finally got frustrated and hit Game Stop. Found a good deal on “Assault on Dark Athena” which made me feel a little better.

The moral of this story?

It’s hard for me to find shoes I like outside of sneakers. I love the way my feet look in sneakers, but my employment location doesn’t provide the cultural atmosphere for causal attire. Finding dress shoes is a struggle, mostly because I’m looking for something not too girly, and in my size. I like the masculine square-toed leather shoes more than the round-toe women flats, but it’s hard to find that compromise of size, style and comfort. Did I mention I’m not rich?

Honestly, I’m trying to keep it simple. Is it comfortable, do I like it, and does it fit my wallet? ~”I have three questions to put thee!” or some other such nonsense.

Additionally, my more purposeful direction of dressing towards the unisex is becoming another struggle. Unisex business casual…I might actually have to create a Pintrest account (never thought the day would come, frankly). Navigating my style and dressing professionally has added more layers of complexity to my usual jeans and sweat shirt life. Plus, I’m facing the fact that I want and need to go to the gym and be purposefully healthy… build biceps? Finally get to do pull-ups (oh noodle arms!).

Yeah. 🙂

Sorry, had a fantasy of hitting 100 pushups. ;P

Besides All That

New life things overall? Focusing on a minimalist, monochrome closet, a new wardrobe, learning to ride/buy/about…a vespa or a motorcycle, whichever one terrifies Mother more…

I’ll admit, I’ve been more purposeful about looking into riding something two wheeled. Cars just aren’t practical where I am, also the gas/insurance is rather ridiculous budget-wise. And with the hills around here, riding a bike can be torture (800 feet vertical incline for food shopping? no thanks!). So, I’ve been looking into a manageable 2-wheeled mode of transportation that I can learn to ride relatively easily.